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More Sailing, Smoking in Style

Celebrity Cruises, Tabacalera Cigars Expand WestWayne’s Role ATLANTA–WestWayne here added two new assignments last week, with combined billings of $13-15 million. Celebrity Cruises in Miami awarded the agency its domestic strategic planning and marketing services, while Tabacalera Cigars International (U.S.A.) in Tampa, Fla., hired WestWayne to handle its four premium brands. The former is reportedly worth $8-10 million in billings, the latter $5 million. The new Celebrity project buttresses the shop’s existing international account. WestWayne’s Miami office will take the lead on the assignment. Additional creative and interactive support will come from the Tampa and Atlanta offices. “Consumers will benefit . . . from our expanded affiliation with WestWayne,” said James Lomonosoff, senior vice president of marketing for Celebrity. “Our new collateral material, our Web site, our interactive communications . . . all will be consistent in style, tone and content.” Other finalists in Celebrity’s search, conducted by Jan Apple of Minnetonka, Minn., were Design Horizons International, Vero Beach, Fla; and Burnett Group, New York. Collateral incumbent SHR Perceptual Management, Scottsdale, Ariz., did not defend. Lead agency for the cruise line remains Harris Drury Cohen, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “This assignment was much bigger than we thought it would be,” said Michael Edmeades, WestWayne’s chief marketing officer. “They asked us where we thought marketing was going in the next 10-15 years . . . When we showed them our Internet [plans] as part of our technological thinking for our general strategy, we were pleasantly surprised [by their reaction].” Edmeades also pointed to the shop’s extensive travel and tourism credentials and collateral experience with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity’s parent, as key factors in the win. WestWayne president Ben West said Tabacalera’s business came without a review, following a project assignment for VegaFina cigars and positive reaction from work the agency completed for midpriced cigar company Hav-A-Tampa, a Tampa-based division of Tabacalera. Counting WestWayne’s recent $17 million University of Phoenix account win, the agency has added more than $30 million in billings in the last month. “This has been an exciting and important month for all three of our agency offices,” West said.